The Emasculation of Hamas
or How to place all powers in the hands of Abbas and Fatah of the PLO

By Dr. Mary Majayda

The infighting in Gaza is now very close to the situational time where Abbas can declare a state of emergency and gather the powers of government into his own hands. That act might not be well liked by the populace but his fellow Fatah members are calling for such a move. It would bring a Marshal Law kind of control and set aside all unity government officials, concentrating power in the single pair of hands of Abu Mazon. The embargo would effectively be ended as the excuse of not dealing with Hamas would be settled. The security forces of Hamas would be outlawed instantly unless incorporated into the Fatah controlled security organizations. And the powers of Fatah and the IDF could be used to squash all opposition.

In a sense it is already happening as Israel is targeting Hamas command centers and fighters to support Abbas already and surly this would continue. It is in Israel’s interest to support Abbas and America has been pouring in money, arms, ammunition, tents and other supplies and manning a training center outside of Gaza for some time to strengthen Fatah over Hamas, effectively crating civil war and conflict internally.

Both sides have denied some of the actions that have taken place over the past few days making one wonder if undercover IDF units are not in place fanning the flames and creating situations to further their cause. It is a common practice to use such undercover Arab dressed ,and Arab speaking units to attack from within Palestine. They have killed and kidnapped before and when “unknown fighters” are mentioned Palestinians are justified in assuming it was Israelis. The Palestinian factions always seem to claim the actions they carry out.

I watch with sadness the deterioration of the internal situation in Gaza and the loss of life. To play on spilled blood to tip the balance of power is pretty low but America and Israel are pretty used to slithering around by now. (Perhaps they should take up swimming as well. The pools of blood are grown large by now and one day they may be floundering in them.)

Abu Mason, the old fighter, is today Mahmoud Abbas , the president of the Palestinian Authority, the artificially created governing mechanism set up by American and Israeli agreements to govern the Palestinians and protect Israel. Too bad it was not set up to provide for the people.

As usual the people seem to have been left out of the equation. America demanded Palestinians have a democratic election, them to retaliate for the wrong group winning, Israel and America instituted a financial embargo where all money going to the government through banks - was stopped . The customs money that belonged to the Palestinian Authority was held by Israel. Suddenly the employees of the government were the unpaid employed. From street sweepers to school teachers, doctors, ambulance drivers and security personnel not one was getting paid. The suffering in Gaza was unimaginable. In addition to the loss of wages you have to add the factor of a border closed so much of the time that commerce has been strangled to death. Food and Medical supplies from the UN and Red Crescent Society have been kept out , sitting on trucks, until the excess shipping costs have reached a million dollars or more at a time. Malnutrition is very real today in Gaza.

Now on top of the poverty America has added the destabilization policy of supporting Fatah while destroying Hamas. Israel is sitting outside of Gaza in tanks and ships, shelling beaches and homes, helicopter gunships using missiles and bombs are destroying cars and homes and Palestine is dying while Israel and America are getting their fondest wish…… the undermining of Hamas, and strengthening of Abbas and the belittling of the people while strengthening Israel’s perceived position of being in a battle with unthinking and uncontrollable people.

Win win for Israel and loose loose for Palestinians.